Posted on 07/04/2011 11:40:41 PM PDT by WesternCulture
America belongs to the Americans.
Yes, but the discovery of America does not belong to silly Southern Europe.
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Ericson
Viking explorers discovered America. Anyone denying this is selling LIES.
Leif Ericson is the King of all explorers.
No other Westerner, rightfully, can claim to have discovered America.
It's time to see who's who, Columbus.
I wonder what those who were living in America for 15,000 years when Erikson arrived would have to say about this?
>> I wonder what those who were living in America for 15,000 years when Erikson arrived would have to say about this?
I bet they’d say they ate a lot of yogurt to live that long.
I t'ink they told them to leif....
“I wonder what those who were living in America for 15,000 years when Erikson arrived would have to say about this?”
- They weren’t Westerners. The Vikings though, were..
Nations like Britain, France, China and Germany are ambitious like Hell.
But in the long run, puny Scandinavia will have a say.
Interesting analysis.
News flash, there were already people here. Giving credit to either the vikings or Columbus would be like me letting myself into your house while you’re at work and discovering your television set. It was the age of conquest and the stone age Native Americans were no match for my ancestors. The vikings may have been the first Europeans in the New World, but they didn’t have the means to take it, and in the end, that’s all that matters.
We said almost exactly the same thing. Interesting.
Columbus changed the world. Leif not so much...
Good grief, can you read?
“No other Westerner, rightfully, can claim to have discovered America.”
It’s not about who inhabited the Continent first, it’s about competing explorations and discoveries!
The thing is that Viking/North European knowledge of the World was coherent with that of the Catholic intellectual sphere at the time of Columbus.
Southern Europe (read Rome and the Vatican) simply was being dishonest.
All in all, this conflict is a consequense of Sweden’s military defeat of the Papal troops back in the 17th century.
Don’t you try and f*ck up our history!
It is sacred to us and we will come back at you, claiming dear truth.
Ha! Exactly what I’ve always thought, but you were much more eloquent!!!
Ericson was far from the first person to discover the Americas. There’s a whole genre of literature devoted to the possibility that some other ancient culture may have landed here before the Europeans in the Age of Discovery. From the Chinese, to Arabs, to ancient Egypt, to Phoenicia; but so what? Columbus’s discovery of the New World was only the vanguard of the European expansion, whereby the various nations of the continent explored and colonized the whole world, in the process creating the modern era. Ericson discovered some new lands, and the world went on as before, nothing changed. That’s why Columbus get’s the credit, while Lief unfortunately (for him) gets the historical footnote.
Relations between European immigrants and American Indians were very mixed. Some big nasties were sometimes played upon the Indians, but sometimes friendships were forged. Indians often tended to be nomadic in North America, not claiming any one spot as their own, while Europeans were more inclined to settle in a fixed locale.
Anyhow, the current system of allotting reservations to Indian tribes, while a seemingly fair compromise, hasn’t turned out all that well for the Indians. They don’t live replicas of their valiant ancestors’ lives; they live in depression and squalor.
“Point is, it was Columbus’ voyage which opened up the Americas to Europe and changed history. Leiff’s voyage is just a blip which no one took notice of.”
Ericson’s charts were part of the body of the best chart-knowledge when Columbus sailed. The charts showed Columbus there was something there, and that it had and could be reached.
Columbus is credited with being a businessman/sea captain that got finance from Isabella, and assembled the known “science” (charts) of the day—both needed for a successful voyage.
I credit all of the early explorers, for they were amazing people, including their crews.
So Scandinavians can be justifiably proud of Ericson’s part.
At that time, the Scandinavians sailed to many distant places, including the Volga River in Russia, around to the Mediterranean, etc.
Their imprint on history is huge, particularly considering their small numbers.
“There’s a whole genre of literature devoted to the possibility that some other ancient culture may have landed here before the Europeans in the Age of Discovery.”
- I’m so impressed by these possibilities.
Perhaps India invented dynamite and everyone in shitholes like Caracas or Detroit drives around in a nice Volvo like people do in Gothenburg and Stockholm.
With my 100% Scandinavian bloodline, perhaps Leif is a distant relative. :^)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.